1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to recording-medium driving devices that perform recording/reproducing operations on recording media such as hard disks, and particularly, to a recording-medium driving device of an auto-loading type.
2. Description of the Related Art
Examples of portable recording media capable of magnetically or optically storing a large volume of data include a card memory type recording medium that employs flash memory and a box type recording medium (hard disk) containing a stack of magnetic disks.
Portable recording media of these examples are loadable and unloadable with respect to a dedicated recording-medium driving device. Specifically, a portable recording medium can be loaded into a recording-medium driving device when a recording or reproducing operation is to be performed, or can be unloaded from the recording-medium driving device for portable purposes. The connection between the recording medium and the recording-medium driving device generally involves the use of connectors.
With regard to a recording medium of this type, if the recording medium is inserted improperly from its wrong end or in an upside-down position into the recording-medium driving device, such improper insertion can result in damage or breakage of the connectors. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-227215 and Japanese Patent No. 3924677 disclose inventions related to the prevention of such improper insertion of a recording medium.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-227215 relates to the prevention of improper insertion of a card inserted upside down into a housing. Specifically, the improper insertion is prevented by allowing the leading end of the inserted card in the upside-down position to come into abutment with a member such as a lock spring provided inside the housing.
On the other hand, in Japanese Patent No. 3924677, an improper-insertion-prevention protrusion is provided in an inward section of a housing. In this case, when a card is inserted improperly from its wrong end, the leading end of the inserted card abuts onto the improper-insertion-prevention protrusion, whereby the improper insertion of the card can be prevented.
With Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-227215 and Japanese Patent No. 3924677, however, it is necessary to insert the recording medium (card) by a certain amount or more into the housing until the leading end of the recording medium comes into abutment with an obstacle provided in an inward section of the housing. This is problematic in that the user cannot be immediately informed of the improper insertion.
In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-227215 and Japanese Patent No. 3924677 each relate to an improper-insertion-prevention mechanism that corresponds either to the case where a card is inserted improperly from its wrong end or to the case where a card is inserted improperly in an upside-down position, but unfortunately cannot correspond to both cases.